"It's big, but I think it's important for people to see that Tesla is here in Fremont," said Mayor Bill Harrison. "I support them branding themselves and them putting it out there that we're the home of Tesla."

"The sign is relatively in scale with the rest of the site," he said. "We wouldn't consider this for a small-size parcel."

The new sign would be the most visible part of the 850-acre Innovation Center, where Fremont envisions adding up to 4,000 housing units, 12,000 jobs, shopping, restaurants, hotel and convention facilities, and parks near the Warm Springs-South Fremont BART station, set to open at the end of next year.

Tesla has been the anchor of that vision and a good partner for Fremont, where the electric car company has opened a sales room, Harrison said.

"That allows us to capture some sales tax dollars," he said. "They're good corporate citizens for us, and we should be good partners for them."